


The Marauders: Year One

by SilentKnight369



Series: The Marauders School Years [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: I don't like Peter but he's still just an innocent first-year for now, Maraudering, Pranking, Protective James Potter, Protective Remus Lupin, Protective Sirius Black, Remus Lupin is my favorite hope I'm not super biased to him, Self-Esteem Issues, poor sirius
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-26 14:05:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16683034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentKnight369/pseuds/SilentKnight369
Summary: As the title suggests this in my own version of the marauders time at Hogwarts. I hope you enjoy.I do not own harry potter or any of the characters than my own OC's.





	1. A Journey Begins

He sat staring out the window the noise on the platform seeping in through the carriage door. He was shaking slightly from nerves, fidgeting he tugged at the sleeves of his robes self-consciously. He glanced nervously at the carriage door as though expecting someone to come bursting through telling him it was all a terrible mistake and throwing him off the train. It was a month since he'd received his letter handed to him by Professor Dumbledore himself. His heart had all but stopped, taking the letter with shaking hands he didn't allow himself to breath till he'd read through it half a dozen times. He stared up at the older wizard. He couldn't believe it, he was going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"But sir" he said looking down at his shoes, "How can I go, I'm a werewolf." A werewolf. That was his curse, that was what prevented society from accepting him, what drove him to isolation for fear of contaminating or killing someone. The older wizard looked down at the boy, his eyes twinkling rather duller than usual. He spoke, his voice soft and comforting, telling the boy of the procedures they'd taken and allowances made telling him, in short, that there was no reason he should not be able to attend. The Headmaster of Hogwarts smiled and took his leave disaperating once outside. The boys heart soared as his mother, tears rolling down her cheeks, embraced him in a warm hug.

"Congratulations Remus" his father said, with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. "Looks like you're going to Hogwarts."

 

The boys head snapped round at the sound of the carriage door opening. A dark messy haired boy in glasses looked at him sheepishly, he was accompanied by a shorter blonde boy fidgeting behind him not looking in the carriage. The taller boy broke the silence.

"Do you mind if we sit here?"

"N-No of course not" said Remus shifting up the seat slightly. The boys grinned at him and stepped inside the compartment sliding the door shut behind them.

"I'm James by the way James Potter, and this here is Peter Pettigrew." he introduced pointing to the blonde boy, Peter, on Remus' right.

"Hey" said Peter slightly nervously.

"Pleasure to meet you both, my names Remus Lupin." he replied holding out his hand to shake to the messy haired bespectacled boy. James looked at the boys’ hand then his face, chuckling at the formality of it all, but shook it gratefully. The three sat in silence for several minutes before the carriage door opened again and another boy stepped in panting slightly and shutting the door quickly.

“Hey” he said as he turned around facing them, they could see his face glistening slightly from sweat, his dark eyes however glimmered with pleasure as he took comfort at the sight of the three boys, though he could not for the life of him say why. Pushing his long hair out of his eyes he sat down across from Remus and Peter.

“Do you mind?” he asked although already sitting.

“Not at all” replied Remus.

“I’m James Potter” began James excitedly, “This is Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin.” He grimaced slightly as though remembering something. He turned to look back over at the two boys. “I know we’ve just met so I hope you don’t mind my introducing you both.” Peter shook his head while Remus said lightly,

“Words were meant to be spoken so do not apologize for yours.” He laughed slightly at the bemused looks on each of their faces. The groups’ newest addition was the first to recover.

“The names Sirius Black” he said grinning at Remus, James and Peter in turn. He looked as though he was going to speak again but at that moment a whistle blew somewhere on the platform and the train began to rumble and move away from the station.

“This is it then” said James his face pressed against the window, “we’re going to Hogwarts.”

“If this is a dream then don’t wake me.” replied Peter beaming. They all grinned right back.

 

After several hours of talking the subject eventually came around to family.

“I mean I can’t wait to get to Hogwarts but I’ll really miss my parents.” Said James. “What about you guys?”

Sirius shook his head and looked down at his feet.

“My family aren’t exactly the nicest” He was prevented from having to explain future by the arrival of the lunch trolley.

“Anything from the trolley dears?” asked a middle-aged witch. Three of the boys stood eagerly and minutes later returned with their pockets full of sweets. “What about you dear?” she asked looking at Remus. Remus shook his head muttering that he wasn’t hungry. She left and the boys returned to their conversation.

“What about you guys?” asked Sirius indicating Peter, who was seated just across from Remus whom Sirius’ question was also directed towards.

“Will you guys miss your parents?”

“Definitely,” responded Peter, “though I suppose I won’t have much time to miss them once classes get started.” They all looked at Remus. He shrugged.

“I’ll miss my mum I guess but my dad and I… don’t really get on.”

“I hear you mate. I don’t get on with anyone in my family.” Sirius replied looking at him.

“How come?” asked James frowning. Sirius turned to face him.

“They’re all a bunch of muggle haters and don’t much like me either because I have my own opinions, one that isn’t theirs I mean.” Silence descended in the carriage and for several minutes no-one spoke each wrapped up in their own thoughts. Whoever they had expected to speak first it wasn’t Remus. The shy boy had spoken least out of the four of them and was very introverted. But he spoke out feeling the need to protect his new friend outweighing his reluctance to get close to people.

“You’re not like that.” He said. The other looked up in surprise. “You’re not like the rest of your family.” Remus continued, looking directly at Sirius, “You said yourself that you have different opinions to them, so be different and revel in it.” Remus started to flush pink as the others stared at him but he didn’t once break his eye contact with Sirius.

“I…Thanks” said Sirius after a considerable pause. Remus nodded and looked away. The boys pulled out their sweets and piled them on the seats next to them.

“Here.” Said Sirius handing the young werewolf a chocolate frog. Remus shook his head not wanting to accept it when he had not paid for it himself.

“Take it” said Sirius shoving it into the boys’ hand, “as a thank you.” he said quiet enough for only him to hear. He took it gratefully nodding his thanks.

“You know” said James looking at Remus curiously, “you have to be one of the strangest people I’ve ever met.” Remus flushed a deeper shade of pink.

“I could say the same for you.” He laughed softly at the expression on James’ face.

“You hurt my feelings with your sharp words.”

“Drama queen” sighed Remus rolling his amber eyes.

“Drama king” James corrected, “Sirius is obviously the queen, I mean just look at that hair.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Sirius indignantly. That set them all off in fits of laughter. They talked comfortably together for the rest of the train ride, as though they’d known each other for years instead of hours.

 

“There, look. You can see Hogwarts from here.” Shouted Peter.   
He'd had his face plastered to the window for the last half hour trying to catch the first possible glimpse of the castle. The others crammed in beside him, faces pressed against the glass in an effort to see clearer.

"We should probably get change into our robes" suggested Remus sitting back down. "We'll be there soon." The others nodded, taking turns in getting changed. By the time they were done the train had begun to slow to a stop. The four boys piled off the train with everyone else following the voice that bellowed,

"Firs'-years over here." As they approached they discovered the source of the booming voice. The largest man any of them had ever seen stood surrounded by a group of trembling first years. His face was almost entirely blocked from view by his black bushy beard. However, despite his rather startling demeanor, his beetle black eyes were warm and not at all unfriendly.

"Right you all here then, good. C'mon follow me!" He walked off. The other first years all stood rooted to the spot not wanting to be the first to follow. James and Sirius looked at each other, shrugged and followed the giant man. Remus and Peter fell into step on either side of them rather more reluctantly. The crowd of first years followed in there wake more comfortably. It was after several minutes of walking that they reached the bank of a huge black lake, several boats floating at the edge. They looked up and several people gasped while others stood their mouths gaping open. Hogwarts stood hundreds of feet tall, turrets and towers topping off the grand structure, vast lands enveloped in darkness could be vaguely see through the gloom, the light from the castle windows reflected on the smooth undisturbed water of the dark lake. On the man instructions, he'd introduced himself as Hagrid, they climbed, four at a time, into the waiting boats. Once seated the boats began to move away from the shore. The ride was freezing and a few times someone would see the surface of the water ripple or bubble. Hagrid attempted to reassure them by saying it was just the giant squid. Needless to say the rest of the ride was tense until eventually they bumped up onto the rocks on the other side, climbing out, feet finally planted on solid ground once more they all breathed a sigh of relief each of them glad to be out of the reach of the giant squid. They walked up to the castle and all feel silent as they reached the double doors, nerves taking over from excitement. A stern looking woman, with her hair pulled back into an extremely tight bun, met them at the now open doors. Her eyes scanned the crowd of first years as they came to a stop in in front of her.

"'ello Professor McGonagall" greeted Hagrid unknowingly answering the majority of the groups unspoken question. "Brought the firs'-years up."

"Thank you Hagrid" responded the Professor, "I can take them from here," The giant man merely nodded and walked off inside leaving the nervous crowd of first year with the rather frightening Professor. She was a fairly young with around mid to late-thirties, with dark hair and square glasses over observant green eyes.

"Right" Professor McGonagall began leading them into the entrance hall and stopping in front of a second set of double doors. "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly," This sounded to Sirius like the start of a very long, well-rehearsed speech. "while you are here, your house will be something like your family withing Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and speed free time in your house common room.  
The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own proud and noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose you house points." She looked pointedly at Sirius at this point, he simply smiled innocently while the others exchanged confused looks. "At the end of the year the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours." She left. They stood nervously contemplating what was waiting for them on the other side of the door. Theories as while as fighting a troll or performing advanced spells sprouted festering away at the last of their courage. Sirius laughed and quietly told the others,

"All we have to do is put on an old hat. My cousin Andy told me." The others sighed and chuckled slightly in relief garnering a few cautious glances. Looking up they saw Professor McGonagall had returned.


	2. The Unusual Sorting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm dedicating this chapter to my friend who sadly took his own life earlier this year. Both his first and last name have been included in this chapter though it has been split between two characters in order to keep some privacy for his friends and family.

"The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin" said Professor McGonagall briskly, "Follow me." She turned and pushed open the huge doors. The chatter that had filled the hall moments before died in an instant. Hundreds of students sat at each of the four long house tables. Opposite them stood the teachers table, facing them were the teachers themselves. Professor McGonagall lead the group forward. James and Sirius tired to look confident, whilst Remus and Peter, like most of the other first years, looked like they wished they were back out on the lake with the giant squid. Remus looked towards the ceiling for some form of distraction and could have sworn he was still outside. Past the floating, flickering candles the ceiling stood resembling the sky outside so clearly he was sure he could have identified constellations had there been fewer clouds. He tore his eyes away from the ceiling, they had reached the back of the hall, standing in front of the teachers table Professor McGonagall placed a small three legged stool in front of the with an old rather ragged wizards hat plonked on top. The low buzz of voices stopped as a rip in the brim of the old hat opened and a voice filled the hall.

"Hogwarts welcomes those of  
learning, kindness, bravery and cunning.  
Ravenclaw, who values those who value knowledge;  
Hufflepuff, who takes those who take care of others;  
Gryffindor, who's bold nature loves those with brave hearts;  
Slytherin, who accept those of great ambition.  
Though all different we must come together to succeed,  
Though hard for you I know is true, it's true you must believe,  
To be the best and beat the rest, together we must stand.  
But oh despair, who would declare to listen, I'm just a hat."

The Great Hall burst into applause.

"What in the name of Merlins pants just happened?" asked James rather stunned.

"Magic" said Sirius doing jazz hands as though to demonstrate. The others tired to cover their laughter with their hands which reduced Peter to a coughing fit, which in turn sent them into more violent fits of laughter earning them several confused and irritated looks from both students and teachers.

"In a few moments" began Professor McGonagall after the noise had died down, "I will call your name, place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses." There was a pause while she consulted a roll of parchment. "Arroway, Ludivine" Called Professor McGonagall. A small blonde girl stepped out of the crowd of first years and the old hat was placed on her head and after a minute called out,

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Cheers erupted from the yellow and black table second from the left.  
Next up was "Aubrey, Betram"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Until, "Black, Sirius" As Sirius approached the stool James could have sworn he's seen someone at the Slytherin table shift up the bench as though to make room for someone. James turned back to look at Sirius who looked as though he could throw up at any moment, though trying not to show it. Their eyes met and James gave him a thumbs up and an encouraging smile. He smiled back nervously. He sat there silence filling the room for several minutes until finally the hat called out

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Silence continued to fill the hall. James was oblivious to this however, he was just to happy to notice much. Peter looked around awkwardly confused as to why this was such a shock, while Sirius, like the rest of the room, was in to much shock to do anything and was looking increasingly uncomfortable at the hundreds of eyes boring into him. So Remus being Remus decided to help out doing the only thing he could think of to divert attention from his friend. So as Sirius rose and approached the Gryffindor table Remus let out the biggest, loudest sneeze he could muster. Most of the crowd let off a snort or a giggle at this giving Sirius enough time to make his walk over to the Gryffindor table which let out a small yet polite applause. Over a dozen people were sorted before,

"Lupin, Remus" He sat on the edge of the stool holding his breath for less than a minute before the hat yelled,

"GRYFFINDOR!" The scarlet and gold table let out a roar of welcome as he walked over plonking himself in the space next to Sirius who was grinning the widest and clapping the loudest at the table.

 

Three more first years were also sorted into Gryffindor until Peter stepped up, also in Gryffindor, followed by James Potter. Where Peter had tiptoed nervously forward James had strode up with confidence. The sorting hat had barely touched his head before it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" and James all but bounced happily over to his house mates.

"Hey" he greeted upon reaching the table, though the sorting ceremony was still going on they ignored it talking in hushed tones.

"I can't believe we all made it into Gryffindor" whispered Peter a little more loudly than intended.

"You don't know the half of it." Sirius replied grinning "All my families in Slytherin, has been for generations. Looks like I finally broke the family tradition."

 

After several more minutes the sorting ceremony was done, having sorted the last first year, some boy named Wilkes, into Slytherin, and the hat and stool were taken away only for the headmaster to rise. the hall fell silent once more.

"To old familiar faces, welcome back, and to those of you just starting, welcome. For those of you who do not know who I am, I am Professor Dumbledore the Headmaster of this prestigious school. First years will have already met Professor Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration teacher." He gestured to the stern woman from before seated to his left. "Please welcome Professor Magnus Lowman who shall be taking over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position after last years Professor Ewans unfortunate departure." At the end of the table a middle-aged wizard nodded his head curtly not giving any further acknowledgement than that as though it was not worth his time. A small, unenthusiastic applause greeted him.

"I already don't like him." whispered Sirius.

"But now I shall not deprive you from our wonderful feast any longer. So" he continued, voice booming out. "let the feast begin." A collective gasp reverberated through the Great Hall as mounds of food appeared on the plates in front of them. Peter promptly fell off the bench in surprise but scrambled up quickly and began shoveling food into his mouth along with James and Sirius. Remus ate in a more dignified manner but not by much, he was far to excited and hungry to care much about manners.

"This is incredible." spluttered James through a mouthful of steak pie. After stuffing themselves so there was near no room left the food disappeared only to be replaced with dessert. They didn't have much trouble making their way through apple pies, treacle tarts and chocolate puddings. After what little remaining food had disappeared Dumbledore stood giving a few announcements (aka: warnings) and sent them off to bed. the first years followed each of their house prefects to the new house common rooms. The boys staircase went up to their right, the girls going up the one on the left, and entered their dorm rooms. Sirius instantly leaped onto the nearest bed directly in front of them. James sniggered taking up residence in the bed beside him.

"I'm knackered" muttered Sirius sinking onto his own bed.

"Night then" slurred James. Remus climbed into the bed next to Peters fully clothed but not caring in the slightest. He was at Hogwarts and he had friends. He fell asleep content in that knowledge. They were all fast asleep before their other dorm mates even entered the dorm.


	3. Wrong House

"Hurry up Sirius, we'll miss breakfast." James called through the bathroom door. He'd been in there for over twenty minutes and it was another ten before he emerged.  
"Finally" exclaimed James. "What took you so long?"

"I was fixing my hair." replied Sirius defensively.

"All that time, are you serious Sirius. Everyone else has left."

"Um... Remus" interrupted Peter, "are you okay?" Remus who had been glaring at his reflection in the mirror turned to them. As Sirius fixed his hair Remus had been struggling tooth and nail to tie his tie.

"Do you want a hand?" asked Sirius walking over to Remus.

"No it's... Yeah" Remus sighed in exasperation and allowed Sirius to fix his shambles of a tie.  
"Stupid damn neck trap" muttered Remus darkly. Sirius chuckled.

"Haven't you ever tied a tie before Remy?" he asked.

"Never had the need to, and since when did you call me Remy."

"Since now." replied Sirius simply. "There." he finished straightening Remus' tie.

"Thanks."

"Can we go to breakfast now?" Peter pleaded.

"Yeah let's go already." whined James.

"Alright, alright we're coming already." Sirius cried out. Grabbing their book bags the boys set off down the stairs to breakfast.

 

It took the four boys around five or six tries to finally reach the Great Hall for breakfast having gotten lost half a dozen time. Though the last time wasn't strictly their fault as the had run into Peeves the poltergeist on the third floor and having ran down a hidden passage that Peter had fallen into, somehow ended up on the fifth floor.

"You know" began Sirius sitting down at the Gryffindor table, "someone should really make a map of this place."

"They can't." replied Remus helping himself to some toast.

"Why not?" asked James also helping himself to some breakfast.

"Hogwarts is unplotable."

"What does that mean?" quizzed Peter.

"It means that if someone tried looking for Hogwarts on a map they wouldn't be able to find it. So the only way someone would be able to map Hogwarts would be with a lot of time, patience and really advanced magic. It'd also have to be done on the school grounds them-self." They sat chatting for around a half hour before they saw Professor McGonagall making her way up the table towards them handing out timetables.

"Potter. Black. Lupin. Pettigrew." said McGonagall upon reaching the four boys. Looking at them each in turn she took out four pieces of parchment taping them with her wand and handing them to the boys. She walked off leaving them to peer at their timetables.

"We're all in the same classes. Awesome." cheered James after comparing his timetable with the others.

"What's first then?" asked Sirius taking his own timetable back from James.

"History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs." supplied Remus tucking his schedule into his book bag and standing up. "We should probably go." The others stood and exited the Great Hall. They arrived at History of Magic around ten minutes late, after proceeding to get lost several more times, but were unsurprisingly not the only ones late. Groups of twos and threes arrived shortly after them having also gotten severely lost. Their teacher, Professor Binns. did not seem to notice the constant intrusions to his lesson and continued lecturing them as such. It was a boring lesson where by the end nearly half the class had fallen asleep waking up just in time to be dismissed.

"That was so boring." complained Sirius, they had just exited the classroom and were heading down the corridor.

"How would you know you were asleep for most of it." retorted Remus smirking slightly.

"Oh come on Remus," whined James, "that class was awful."

"Speaking of classes what have we got next?" asked Sirius.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Who with?"

Remus checked his schedule. "The Slytherins." Sirius groaned audibly.

"Come on mate, it can't be that bad." reassured James. Sirius stayed quiet.

 

They managed to reach their classroom only getting lost four times on the way. They were some of the first to arrive and decided to take the four seat at the back.

"I am Professor Lowman and I shall be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the foreseeable future." he introduced once the entire class had arrived. "This year year we shall focus on spell work practicing and mastering the several basic spells a long with the theory behind them. Now" he continued, "we shall begin with the expellarmus. Who can tell me what this spell does?" The class remained silent. "How about you, Mr Lupin?" The class seemed to turn as one to face Remus who was slowly turning red. "Well?"

"Um, it um, disarms a wizards opponent, sir." answered Remus.

"And what is the wand motion preformed during this incantation?"

"A flick of the wand sir."

"And what" asked the Professor his voice slowly rising, "is the origin of this spell?"

"I-I don't know sir" said Remus dejectedly. Professor Lowman smiled nastily at this.

"Well if you can't even be bothered to pick up a book." Remus went bright red and Professor Lowman, clearly satisfied with this addressed the rest of the class who began swiftly taking notes. Several slytherins sniggered and started throwing bits of paper across the classroom, the Professor was apparently oblivious to this. It was more the fact that it was slytherins that got Sirius' blood boiling, but it was also the injustice of it all. Remus had answered two out of three of the Professors questions correctly, when half the class probably couldn't have even answered one.

"What the hell was that all about?" whispered James stunned by the Professors harsh attitude towards his friend.

"Doesn't matter." Remus muttered. He was still rather flustered and stayed silent for the remainder of the class. The rest of the lesson went by with relative ease but Remus had found his least favorite Professor at Hogwarts and it wasn't even lunch yet.

 

"He was bang out of order treating Remus like that." ranted Sirius. Class had just ended and Remus had bolted out the door before James, Peter or Sirius had a chance to talk to him.

"Yeah," replied James, "but the weird thing was he didn't even fight it, he just let him tear him apart, like he deserved it or something."  
"We'd better hurry down to potions, Remus will probably be there anyway." said Peter nervously checking his watch. They nodded and headed down towards the dungeons. Remus was there waiting for them having saved them a table.

"Hey." he greeted when the others had sat down. James stated to ask Remus what had happened when a large bellied wizard called out,

"Right, are we all here?" he glanced around the class.

"Excellent. We'll get started then shall we? I'm Professor Slughorn and I will no doubt be learning all about each of you during our time together." He smiled as though trying to appear as a kindly father, though James privately thought it made him look more like a creepy uncle. "Right then, why don't we start with the forgetfulness potion. Turn to page twelve in your textbooks and start brewing." They worked on their potions for the first forty minutes of the lesson Sirius helping Peter occasionally. Slughorn spent the rest of the lesson going around the class commenting and awarding points to those whose potions were done well. When he reached the boys table he congratulated James, Sirius and Peter on their potions, despite the omonus glow Peter potion was emitting, awarding them five points a piece, glanced over Remus' potion and walked away. Remus sighed disappointed but not particularly surprised. James and Sirius however, were done with their Professor attitude towards their friend.

"Sir," James interjected "you forgot to mark Remus' potion." James' face was calm but his voice was cold.

"Oh, right of course." stammered the Professor clearly uncomfortable. He glanced quickly over the young werewolves potion. "Well done Lupin." He began to walk away again.

"But sir" it was Sirius' voice, as cold as James' had been moments before, that stopped the potions Professor this time. "you gave everyone else points for completing the point, why not Remus." It was more of a statement than a question, and Slughorn seemed increasingly agitated by the situation at this point and was trying to look anywhere but at the four boys staring at him.

"Ah, yes, so I did. Well, um, you take five points too Lupin. Must have slipped my mind."

"Yeah funny that." commented Sirius.

"Hilarious really." continued James.

"Yes, yes" the Professor muttered walking to the next table. "very funny yes."

"Honestly Remus, why do all these teachers dislike you so much? It's not like you've even been here long enough to get into any trouble." questioned James turning back to his friends. Remus shrugged though he was fighting a grin at his friends defense of him.

 

After class they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. They had just sat down when an owl swooped down dropping a red letter in front of Sirius. The letter instantly began to smoke.

"Oh no." Sirius breathed.

"W-what is that?" stuttered a worried Peter.

"A howler. It's a howler." answered James.

"Who's it from?" Remus asked a sense of foreboding growing in the pit of his stomach.

"My mother." replied Sirius. He was paling rapidly as the letter began to shake. "We should run. Now." Grabbing the letter they ran making it to the large double doors before,

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK HOW DARE YOU SHAME OUR NOBLE HOUSE-" That was about all they heard, the yelling being so loud they barely made out ten word from the screaming.The four had their hands clamped over their ears as the shrill voice pounded against their ear drums. The screaming eventually stopped the letter apparently finished. Though the words hadn't been clear the anger behind it was. The entire hall was silent and everyone had turned to stare at Sirius. James turned to look at his friend in shock at what they had just heard. He knew of course that Sirius' parents wouldn't be happy he was put in Gryffindor, but he had not expected that amount of anger. Sirius himself was ghost white staring at the spot where the letter had burnt up.

"I think I just lost my appetite." Sirius spoke into the silence, turning and exiting the Great Hall. The three boys followed concerned. "I'm fine." he assured them upon seeing their worried expressions.

"Sirius" began James. Sirius cut him off.

"It doesn't matter, I was expecting it to be honest. I knew she'd be angry."

"Yeah," James ventured slowly, "but there's angry, then there's nuclear." Sirius shrugged a shoulder.

"It's not like she can do anything about it. I'm just annoyed that the entire school had to hear." They walked in a comfortable silence for a few minute before they were interrupted.

"Sirius Black?" asked a voice a voice from behind them. They turned to see a Gryffindor girl with bright green eyes and long red hair stood there.

"Yeah, who're you?" asked Sirius cautiously.

"Lily Evans." said the girl.

"James Potter." interrupted James, "Pleased to meet your acquaintance." he smiled cheekily. She glanced at him raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Professor McGonagall wants to see you in her office." she continued talking directly to Sirius.

"Why?" asked Sirius genuinely confused, he hadn't done anything wrong. Well not yet anyway. She shrugged and walked off.

"Do you want us to come with you?" James asked frowning. Sirius shook his head.

"No it's fine. I'll meet you guys up in the common room." They walked off in separate directions. Ten or so minutes later and Sirius was standing outside Professor McGonagalls' office knocking on the hard wood door.

"Come in." He entered. "Ah, Mr Black. Please take a seat." He sat on in the chair on the opposite side of the desk facing Professor McGonagall. "I have received a letter of... complaint, similar to your own from your mother as to your placement in Gryffindor." He winced and paled for the second time that day.

"...Oh" was all he managed to force out.

"However, you should know that students are not permitted to switch houses, of which I have explained to Mrs Black." Sirius let out a breath of relief.

"So I don't have to move to Slytherin?" he asked hopefully.

"No" answered Professor McGonagall frowning slightly, "but I was under the impression that you wanted to be in Slytherin." Sirius shook his head.

"That's what my family want."

"And what is it that you want Mr Black?" she asked. He already knew the answer to that question. He had since he was old enough to think for himself, and had been solidified yesterday when he had ran from his cousin and taken refuge in the carriage occupied by three other first years.

"I don't want to be like them. I want to stay in Gryffindor." McGonagall nodded and motioned that he could leave. He was an odd one that Sirius Black, thought Professor McGonagall as her office door banged shut. Nothing like the other Black family members she'd met. She'd definitely keep an eye on him, him and his friends. After all he had befriended a Potter and a werewolf.

 

The four boys sat in the Gryffindor common room on the comfy arm chairs closest to the fire. Sirius had just finished retelling the conversation back in McGonagalls office.

"So your mum sent McGonagall a letter to force you to change house but she refused." James reiterated.

"Basically," confirmed Sirius, "looks like you're stuck with me."

"Oh however shall we cope." commented Remus sarcastically.

"Yeah," Peter piped in, "and here I thought we'd gotten rid of you."

"Never." Sirius grinned.

"Well" said Peter, "classes are finished for the day. what should we do?" A smile split Sirius' face.

"I've got an idea. Why do we pull a prank?"

"How?" asked James.

"Haven't you guys ever pranked someone before?" The other shook their heads and Sirius leaned in the others following suit.

"Then listen up boys, this is pranking one o one."


	4. Pranking 101

"I'm still not sure this is such a good idea." said Peter, "I don't want to get into trouble." They were siting in the Library, something Sirius and James had protested against, at one of the tables at the far back of the room with several book on charms laying open in front of them.

"It's a great plan and we'll be hidden remember." assured James.

"Besides," continued Sirius, "even if we do get caught they can only give us detention or deduct points."

"Found it." announced Remus. He had originally protested against this stupid idea, but had eventually agreed to help, if only so the others wouldn't get caught. At least that was his excuse. The other boys could see the veiled mischief in and excitement in his amber eyes. "The levitation charm. It's pretty basic actually, we'll probably learn it in charms class this year."

"Right," began James "lets go learn it, dinner is in a few hours so we should have enough time."

 

The Gryffindor quartet managed to find a disused classroom on the forth floor to practice in after collective several feathers from the owlery. It was around quarter to six by the time they had all successfully mastered the spell. Remus had been the first to levitate his feather and had moved onto levitating heavier objects around the room before James and Sirius had managed to levitate their own feathers. Peter had struggled a little with focusing and was the reason they were cutting it so close time wise. But with the help of Remus he was able to make his feather float and even managed to levitate a book, even if it had landed on James' head afterwards. At five to six they positioned themselves behind a large statue besides the doors to the Great Hall, took out the ink bottles they had stashed in their robes before leaving Gryffindor tower and levitated several blobs of ink in the doorway. Five minutes later students began to trickle into the hall for dinner and the boys, keeping out of sight, watched the chaos unfold as the cancelled their spells. People began to scream as drops of black ink began raining down upon them. The panic only lasted a few minutes before Professor McGonagall showed up and vanished the remaining ink.

"Who did this?" McGonagall spoke slowly and deliberately, clearly pissed. The four boy looked at each other smothering their laughter and crouched further behind the statue. She stood there for several minutes interrogating student after student. while she was distracted however, the young pranksters snuck off tiptoeing round the backs of the other students and entered the hall without being questioned. They sat down at the Gryffindor table adrenaline still pumping.

"Hey." greeted a blonde haired boy seated on Peters left.

"Hi." they chorused back.

"I'm Frank, we share a dorm actually. I'm a first year too."

"Oh, nice to meet you. This is Sirius, Remus and Peter, and I'm James." Frank nodded in acknowledgement a grin spreading across his face.

"Did you guys see what happened over by the doors?" he asked.

"No, what happened?" asked Sirius innocently.

"Someone charmed a bunch of ink to drop on people as they entered the hall. It was brilliant."

"Wow, I can't believe someone pulled a prank." exclaimed Sirius in a tone of mock surprise.

"I know" Remus chimed in, "and on the first day as well." he shook his head a small curve of his lips being the only evidence of his insincerity. Frank peered at them curiously as Peter attempted to stifle his laughter and Jame tried to take a drink while silently laughing and choking slightly.

"Riiiiight." Frank replied dubiously, "You guys wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?"

"Of course not Frank." denied Sirius the hurt expression on his face not entirely hiding his smile.

 

Back in the Gryffindor boys dorm an hour and a half later found James and Peter munching on several sweets that James mum had packed into his case while longing on his bed, and Remus and Sirius on the laters bed discussing the pros and cons of different sweets. The group looked up as the door opened and Frank and four others walked in and made their way to their own beds. They all sat in an awkward silence until Sirius broke the silence.

"Well, if we're all going to be sharing a dorm for the next seven years we might as well get to know each other." There were murmurs of general agreement from the others. " Great, so I'm Sirius Black"

"James Potter"

"Remus Lupin"

"Peter Pettigrew"

"Frank Longbottom"

"Zack Waddle"

"Matthew Moore"

"Ronan Smith"

"Finn Finnagain"

"So" said James after a pause, "who's trying out for the quiddich team?"

"Not much point is there." replied Frank.

"Yeah I heard that they hardly ever put first years on the team." Ronan added.

"What's quiddich?" asked Zack confused. Sirius responded as James seemed to dumbfounded to speak.

"It's a wizard sport played on broomsticks."

"H-how can you not know about quiddich?" asked James apparently regaining his ability to form coherent sentences.

"I'm kinda new to all this." Zack informed turning a little red.

"Same." agreed Matthew, "I got my letter a couple of months ago and suddenly, bam magic. It certainly explained a lot. Got a visit from McGonagall too, freaked my parents out I can tell you that." Laughter filled the room. They chatted for a while longer before getting ready for bed. No-one but Sirius noticed Remus sneak into the bathroom to change and into bed. "Sleep wells" and Good nights" filled the air as they climbed into bed pulling closed the hangings around them.

 

Friday went by slow with the knowledge of the weekend to come weighting down in everyone's minds. Everyone except Remus. For him time went to fast, the feeling of dread inside him growing so huge he felt sick. This was not unusual however, it was part of the process, he would feel sick the days leading up to the full moon gradually getting worse until he could no longer bare it. But he had bore for almost seven years and he would continue to. He couldn't tell his friends. He knew they'd think him a monster, hell, even his own father did. Not that he was wrong, he thought glumly as he walked down to the second floor for charms. They learnt Wingardium Leviosa, the levitation charm, which since they had already learnt it the four spent most of the class whispering amongst themselves. In Potions they read up o the forgetfulness potion, Professor Slughorn keeping as far away from the four boys table as possible, and Transfiguration gave them their first real homework.

With a flick of her wand matchsticks flew from their box one landing in-front of each student.  
"Today we shall practice and learn how to transfigure a matchstick into a needle." announced Professor McGonagall. By the end of the lesson only James and a couple of Ravenclaws had successfully transfigured their matchsticks into satisfactory needles earning ten points each. Remus' had turned silver but not nearly pointy enough, while Sirius was having as much luck as Peter with the spell and left the class thoroughly down heartened especially as they had been give the spell to practice over the weekend and a half foot long essay on how to properly pronounce and cast the spell.

"Mr Lupin." called Professor McGonagall as the class began to file out. "A word please."

"You're not in trouble again," muttered James "you haven't even done anything."

"Do you want us to wait?" asked Peter.

"No it's fine, I'll meet up with you later." he replies. They exited the classroom and Remus approached the front of the class.

"On Sunday" Mcgonagall began, "you are to go to Madam Pomfry in the hospital wing and she will take you to where you will safely endure your monthly transformations." Remus nodded looking glum and the stern transfiguration professors voice abruptly softened. "You need to be down there for at latest seven as I'm sure you know." He nodded, unsure how else to answer. "You may leave." she instructed. He didn't move, she frown a little.

"Professor," he spoke softly choosing his words carefully, "do Professors Lowman and Slughorn know of my um, condition?"

"Yes" she responded watching as his face fell, "all of the Professors do. Why?"

"No reason." he assured, a little to quickly. He turned to leave and had reached the door before McGonagall called out,

"Poppy has many excellent pain relief potion, should you feel ill head down to the hospital wing, she'll take good care of you." Remus stood there frozen for a moment, stunned at his professors kindness, before giving her a small smile and a soft thank you. He left and McGonagall suddenly felt rather protective toward the vulnerable boy in her care. Another on of her students she'd have to keep an eye on.

 

The weekend past in a blur for Remus. They spent most of Saturday messing about outside next to, and sometimes even in, the lake and Remus went to bed happy yet dreading the next night.


	5. The First Transformation

"Remus. Remus. Wake up Remus." James yelled shaking his still sleeping friend.

"Ugh..." came his reply. He sighed in relief.

"Thank Merlin, we've been trying to wake you for the last fifteen minutes. Are you feeling alright?" Remus groaned and turned over crawling out of bed. He got up, dressed and threw up in the bathroom sink. Thankfully no-one saw saving Remus from coming up with an excuse for his sudden illness. Remus forced himself to eat some toast, pointedly refusing to look up at the staff table. He did not want to see the horror or pity on his teachers faces.

"What should we do today? It's our first day off."

"We've got homework." sighed Peter. James and Sirius looked disgusted at the mere thought causing Peter to laugh slightly.

"You alright Remus?" James asked again. "You're awfully quiet." Remus shrugged.

"Just thinking." He glanced up at the staff table but looked away before anyone would notice. "But Peters right, we'd be better off finishing our homework today so we have all tomorrow free."

"Fine. I guess that makes sense." sighed Sirius relenting and standing up. The others stood along with him and the headed back up to their dormitory grabbing their book bags and walked back down to the common room and throwing their work on an unoccupied table.

 

"I'm boooored." drawled Sirius throwing his quill down.

"We've been at this for ages." moaned James.

"It's only been twenty minutes" sighed Remus exasperatedly, but the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

"Hey." said a voice behind them, "Are you guys working on the transfiguration homework?" Frank, Ronan and Zack sat down at their table pulling out parchment, quills and ink.

"Attempting to." responded Remus giving James and Sirius a pointed look.

"We've still got to practice that charm for Flitwick and spell for McGonagall." Ronan reminded them.

"Well I think we've got the charm sorted." assured Sirius glancing at the other three smirking slightly

"And I can't help you guys with your matchsticks if you want." offered James.

"Yeah, can we do that now? I'm hopeless at transfiguration." replied Sirius taking out a matchstick and his wand. They spent the next couple of hours practicing their transfiguration wand work, Remus ended up helping Peter after he successfully transfigured his own matchstick, while James helped Sirius and the others. It was time for lunch by the time they started on their essays but they were back at it soon after at Remus' insistence. Remus himself had finished his transfiguration essay during lunch, which he seemed to use as an excuse to avoid eating, tho did not go unnoticed by James and Sirius. He ended up helping Frank, Ronan, Matthew, Zack and Finn, who had joined them during lunch, practice the levitation charm for Professor Flitwick while the others finished their own essays. They finished a little before dinner and played exploding snap until they had to head down. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter walked up to their dormitory after dinner. James fished out a box of Berti Bots Every Flavor Beans from his trunk welcoming them to help themselves. Remus politely declined as the others dug in. Remus, who had been feeling nauseous all day, now felt physically ill and decided it was time to go down and visit Madam Pomfery

"I need to go ask Professor McGonagall about the homework." he announced suddenly stending to leave.

"Oh. Okay." said Sirius rather stunned by the sudden proclamation. "See you later."

"Oi, James, you in there?" called Sirius a while later from where he sat on his bed. James stood suddenly walking over to Remus' bed and began rummaging through his book bag.

"That's Remus'." stated a confused Peter.

"He's right. What are you doing?" Sirius asked straightening up. James ignored them having found what he was looking for, he pulled out Remus' transfiguration textbook with his essay inside.

"Remus finished the essay ages ago." he remarked, "Why would he have to talk to McGonagall when he'd already finished it?" He put the book back and sat down beside Sirius. They sat in silence for a minute before Sirius said,

"We'll ask he when he gets back. We're his friends, he can trust us."

 

Remus felt awful. He hated lying to his friends but he was so sure they wouldn't accept him if they knew what he was. He spent the entire walk down to the Hospital Wing trying to think up some excuse to explain his absence for the night.

"How are you feeling deary?" asked Madam Pomfry as she spotted him approach. His face seemed to say it all as she simply nodded and walked him outside. Upon reaching the Whomping Willow the matron took a large stick and prodded a knot at the base of the trunk immobilizing it long enough for Remus to enter the hidden tunnel under it. He walked forward, not daring to look back. After a few minutes walking he reached a door. He pushed it open entering a dark bleak room. It had little furniture, only a couple of armchairs and a bed, he ignored these and approached the boarded up window as the door closed and magically locked shut. He stripped down to his underwear, not wanting to tear his clothes when he transformed, and sat staring out a small gap in the boards for over and hour steadily growing more and more ill. It wasn't until around 8 O'clock that it began. Starting off slow with small shakes slowly becoming more and more violent until he was writhing on the floor fighting back the tears of helplessness that had sprung up. When he tried to sit up pain hit him like a stone gargoyle. A scream tore its way through his throat as his bones snapped like twigs, his spine arched forward his bones reforming into a beastly form. Grey-brown fur sprung up, his nose elongated and eyes, which previously held warmth, filled with an unquenchable hunger. His scream became a howl as his human mind was lost and replaced with that of the werewolves. The beast rose on its hind legs sniffing the air. It ran at the door pummeling, biting and clawing at it, but the wards Dumbledore had placed held strong. It let out a furious howl and began tearing up one of the armchairs. As it howled in rage the creature had no knowledge of the three boys who shivered at the sound, laying awake in their beds waiting for their friend who had still not returned.

 

He awoke the next morning laying face down on the cold hard floor. He didn't move still sore from the previous night. Every tense of a muscle sent spasms of pain through his body. He had been lucky enough to have a good night as he could see no blood in sight. He sat up slowly, trying to ignore the pain that flared as he did, and pulled on his trousers from the day before. He heard footsteps approach a he lay himself back down, fatigue taking over even after such a small act. He never saw Madam Pomfry enter the room, nor feel as he was lifted onto a magically conjured stretcher. Never noticed the sad smile the matron wore as she checked him for injures and took him back up to the castle. He was already fast asleep.

 

Remus awoke the next day refreshed and once Madam Pomfry was satisfied he was free to head back to his dormitory to change into his school uniform. He entered the dormitory to find James, Sirius and Peter beside themselves attempting to wake the others in order to form a search party to look for their missing friend. They turned when they heard the door open facing Remus as he walked in. Unable to hide his relief at seeing his friend safe Sirius practically tackled the other boy, lifting his feet off the ground for a moment.

"There" grumbled Finn grumpily, "told you he'd turn up." He lay back pulling his hangings shut evidently trying to get back to sleep.

"Where were you Remus?" asked James, relieved yet perplexed.

"Yeah we looked all over for you all day yesterday." continued Sirius Sitting down with Remus on his bed.

"But no-one would tell us where you were," finished Peter looking worried. Remus fidgeted a little self-consciously, tugging on his sleeves.

"I had to go home for a couple of days," he said quietly, " my mum's ill and dad was working so I had to go look after her for a little bit." He stared at his hands not looking at his friends faces.

"Oh." said Sirius unable to think of what else to say.

"But last time we saw you you went to talk to McGonagall about the homework" remembered James frowning slightly, "but you'd finished your essay already." Sirius glared at him not thinking it was the best time to suggest that your friend was lying to you.

"Oh. I went to ask if the spell would be on the exam but she told me my mother was ill and sent me straight home through the floo network. I'm sorry if I worried you all." The lies tumbled out of his mouth before the could think surprising himself but not letting it show on his face.

"Ah, right. Don't worry about it. I hope your mum's feeling better." replied James sheepishly. 

"Yeah sorry to hear about your um." offered Peter. Remus sent each of them a small smile of thanks and the group began to change into their uniforms as the rest of the dorm began to stir.

"We should head down to breakfast." suggested James once they were ready. Sirius and Peter jumped up at the mention of food and bolted out the door almost forgetting their bags. Remus and James sniggered into their hands as the followed.  
The rest off the week went quickly, the only excitement being the announcement that flying lessons with Madam Hooch would begin that Thursday. This didn't bother Remus one way or the other where as James and Sirius were practically salivating at the thought of getting to fly. Peter on the other hand had very nearly had a heart attack when he found out. Even with his friends reassurances he was still terrified. And for good reason as they soon found out, he had even less co-ordination in the air than he did on the ground, which was frankly terrifying in its self. They'd lost count of the number of secret passages they'd run across simple because Peter had tipped and fallen directly into them. But they had fun regardless, and no-one, other than that poor owl, had managed to get hurt. Which, James thought, was a miracle.


	6. Nightmares and Secrets

They were a week into October and September, along with Remus' second monthly transformation, had come and gone. He had been forced to lie to his friends once again and it had been tearing him up inside. It was becoming easier to lie, yet more difficult to lie to them. He'd always been a terrible liar, and he wasn't sure he liked how easy it was becoming, but he didn't have a choice. Not if he wanted to keep his friends. His inner turmoil had not gone unnoticed by his closest friends who were sure he was hiding something from them, they just had no idea what. However, Remus was not the only one in the group who appeared to be keeping secrets. Multiple times over the past month James and Peter had brought up their families back home only for Remus to start nervously tugging at his sleeves and Sirius to clam up so fast it was astounding, not to mention worrying. One such time this had happened James had tried to cox Sirius and Remus out of their self made shells, to deeply disappointing results as Remus had disappeared, to Merlin knows where, for several hours and Sirius had locked himself in the bathroom only to be forced out an hour later by an angry Finn Finagain who had threatened to pee on Sirius' bed if he didn't get out. They had learned quickly after that that families were a sensitive subject for the two.

 

Sirius awoke panting slightly, a cold sweat lightly covering his skin. He's had a nightmare, he'd been having them sense he got to Hogwarts, longer if he was being honest with himself. He got up, realizing he wasn't going to get back to sleep, and meandered down the stairs to the common room. A figure was sat in an armchair reading a book lit only be the fire.

"What are you doing up so late?" asked the figure spotting the boy standing in the doorway.

"Couldn't sleep." answered Sirius, "You?"

"Same." replied Remus marking his page and closing the book. Sirius walked over sitting himself down on the seat next to him. They sat in silence for a while content in each others company. "Do you want to talk about it?" Remus asked.

"About what?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you."

"What makes you think somethings bothering me?" Sirius plastered a grin on his face.

"It's three O'clock in the morning Sirius, and you're awake and drenched in sweat." he spoke patiently. Sirius sighed. "Just a nightmare. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you wanna talk about whats bothering?"

"What makes you think something is?" he said suddenly defensive.

"It's three in the morning Remus?" Sirius repeated back exasperatedly, "Somethings keeping you awake." Remus said nothing for a while, not wanting to lie to him, before finally saying quietly,

"Same as you." Sirius looked over at him sharply not having expected a response. The room lapsed into silence as the two boys stared into the dying embers of the fire. "Sirius, why don't you like your family?" Sirius spluttered in shock and Remus rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Sirius, it's obvious you don't get on." Sirius remained silent so he continued."You've barely mentioned the since the train. I just want to help Sirius." And suddenly the damn broke. Years of built up anger came spilling out. He talked about how he hated their way of thinking and treatment of others, the pressure they continually put on him, his fear of not being allowed to stay in Hogwarts. Remus sat quietly through Sirius' rant just listening. When he was done Sirius let out a slow breath of relief, some of the burden having been lifted.

"Feel better?" inquired Remus and Sirius chuckled slightly nodding. "You should tell the others what you told me you know." Sirius grimaced.

"I reckon I will at some point, but for now can we keep this between ourselves." Remus nodded his ascension and Sirius, yawning, stood to leave. "I'm gonna try get some sleep, you coming?" Remus shook his head indicating that he would continue reading. He sat staring into the fire for a while after Sirius had left thinking over everything that had been said. He fell asleep a couple of hours later back in the comfort of his four-poster bed still pondering over the words that had been spoken only hours before.

 

The next morning brought their first news of the outside world in weeks and it wasn't exactly reassuring. The morning post owl swooshed in delivering the normal letters from parents and newspapers or magazines. Remus, who was reading that mornings daily prophet as James payed the owl, gasped suddenly and flattened out the paper so the others could see.

_The Ministry regrets to inform the public of the deaths of Donald Albertalli and his wife Kathleen Albertalli who were killed last night at the hands of a group of dark wizards many are called the Death Eaters. Who orchestrated this and several previously similar attacks is still unknown, however, a ministry official, who wished to remain unnamed, told our reporters that, "These people are just a bunch of murderers... the auror department has dealt with worse and we'll take these so called 'Death Eaters' down to." Auror Alaster 'Mad Eye' Moody was unavailable for comment however..._ Continued Page 6.

They finished reading and locked eyes with each other in silence. Hushed whispers had filled the hall as many who had seen the article began discussing it amongst themselves and informing the other who had not.

"What do you think happened?" ventured Peter clearly frightened.

"Wrong place, wrong time?" suggested Sirius hopefully.

"Or it could have been planned." James interjected.

"Most likely it was planned." informed Remus distractedly, he had turned to page six and continued to read, frown deepening as he did. "Based on what it says in here Mr Albertalli was a muggle-born and that's why they were targeted, Mrs Albertalli was just in the way otherwise she would have been fine."

"That's mental!" exclaimed James furiously, "Why would they kill someone because of their blood status?"

"Sounds like blood purists to me." concluded Sirius, "Pure blood idiots with less brains than a troll." Remus stayed quiet as his friends laughed and changed the subject as though the previous conversation never happened.


End file.
